Mai Nuat Khao (Rice-Threshing Sticks) — Two Sticks and a Cord Grip the Sheaf, Then Beat the Grain from the Ears

"To use the threshing sticks, the farmer holds both sticks, loops the cord round the sheaf at the part where the sheaf is tied, then crosses the sticks so that they bind against each other to grip the sheaf tight, and then lifts the sheaf and beats it against a log laid down until the paddy grains fall from the ears." (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author พิชชา ทองขลิบ (Phitcha Thongkhlip), CC BY 4.0)

Use dense, fully mature bamboo with short internodes and a small stem, a size that fits the hand and can be gripped all round, or another wood such as pradu, mai daeng, chingchan or teak.

Cut 2 sticks about 50 centimetres long and 3 centimetres across and shave them smooth. If you use timber, plane it and then rub it smooth.

Drill a hole near the end of each stick. Thread a leather cord, or a cord about 50 centimetres long, or about as long as the sheaf's girth, through the holes of both sticks, and tie a knot at each end of the cord.

Real photos of a ไม้ตีข้าว (mai ti khao) (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author พิชชา ทองขลิบ (Phitcha Thongkhlip), CC BY 4.0)

Loop the cord round the sheaf at the part where the sheaf is tied, cross the two sticks so that they bind against each other to grip the sheaf tight, then lift the sheaf and beat it against a log laid on the threshing floor, on a mat or on a wide tarpaulin spread on the ground, until the paddy grains fall from the ears.

A similar tool, the mai khuang, is used to beat the pods of mung beans, soybeans and black beans. Threshing sticks are now little used, because walking tractors, tractors and threshing machines have replaced them. Source: Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, database of traditional everyday objects, "ไม้นวดข้าว", author พิชชา ทองขลิบ (licence CC BY 4.0), citing สนม ครุฑเมือง (Sanom Khrutmueang) (2531 BE) and วิบูลย์ ลี้สุวรรณ (Wibun Lisuwan) (2532 BE). **Limits.** The source gives both the stick length and the distance of the hole from the end as "about 50 centimetres", so this blueprint gives no exact hole position; drill near the end.